Joint



@teiten gisten glatrnt @fitta IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE-JOINT.

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T0 ALL'WHOM IT MAYCONCERN:

Beit known that I, RICHARD NIoKSON,of Akron, in the county of Summit, and State of Ohio, have inventedk I certain new and useful improvements in Carriage-Joints; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making a portion of this specification, in which- V p i Figure l is a central longitudinal section, showing a carriage-joint constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2 is 'a side View of the same, take at right angles .to fig, 1,'showing the `joint as opened preparatory to its attachment to the carriage. i

Figure 3 :is aside view of the same on a reduced scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in allthe figures. l i

The object of this invention is to enable a carriage-top to be thrown back and held automatically inpany desired position, in order to facilitate getting into or out of the carriage, and it onsists in a. spring frictionblock so combined with the carriage-joint that the pressure of the said block upon the fixed portionbf the joint will oounterbalance the downward tendency of the top when thrown back, and thus retain the same ina fixed position, except when force is applied to move or operate the said top; The invention further consists in a novel combination of" parts, whereby the friction-block aforesaid, and the appurtenancesl thereof, may be veryy conveniently removed or replaced when required. V p l i i To enable others to understand the construction and operation of my invention, I will `proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A represents the bar, which constitutes that portion of the top, the lower ond of which'isattached to the carriage, and in which the joint is formed. This bar may be made straight or curved, -according to thevariety of'top employed, and may be made in any desired number of sections, screwed togethenras indicated in the drawings. The lower end of the bar A is divided longitudinally for a short distance, the short piece a, formed by such division being strongly hinged to the extremity of thme bar A,'as shown ata', and is held in place when the joint is applied to the carriage by a spring-catch, b.` Formed within the lower end, just mentioned, of the bar A andthe hinged piece a, is u circular socket, iu which is placed a circular piece orA block, B,.thc central portion of the periphery of which extends outwardbeyondthe side portions thereof, and is furnished with angular notches. Formed transversely in the'centre of this block yis a square hole, c', through which is passed the xed bolt which connects the bar to the carriage, and formed longitudinally inthe bar A, and con-v nected with the said socket, is a chamber, d', in which is placed` a sliding friction-block, vC, the lowern'lost end of which is hollowed out and formed with notches in such manner as to t against or upon the notchedperiplb cry of the fixed friction-piece B. just mentioned, and the upper part of which is made of cylindrical shape, and has placed around it a spiral spring, c,which forcibly presses the lower end of the said block against the periphery just mentioned of the xed friction-piece B, and also forces the said portion B back with thc notched periphery of its central portion in close contact with `the notched side a offthe socket in which it is placed, as shown more fully in iig. l.V The several parts being placed in position, and the hinged piece a being closed down upon the bar A, and secured in place'by the spring-catch as hereinbeforeexplained, the joint-.lis attached to the carriage by a suitable bolt passing through the hole Aa of the fricti'mpiece B. The top being thus'secured to the carriage, the friction produced by the pressure of the spring friction-block Cupon `the fixed friction-piece B, und by the pressure of such friction-,block -upon the notched side a of the"sofcketin which it is placed, is .suilcient to resist the tendency of the carriage-top supported thereby to fall by itsown weight when thrown back, so that the said top may beturned back to a greater or less degree, as muy bc required in getting in or out of the carriage, and be automatically held in such position, thus avoiding the i necessity of either entirely letting down the top or of holding the same by hand, at the same time that the 'position ofthe said top may be easily changedby applying sniicient force thereto to overcome the friction of the block C upon the piece B. The joint as thus constructed is not only intended to be formed or applied to or upon the lower end of tllebar A, but also to the"prop iron at the uppermost portion of the top. t

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l. The combination of the spring friction-block C with the joint, substantially as and for the purpose specified. 2. The hinged piece a, and spring-catch b, in combination with the spring .friction-block C, and the fixed friction-piece B, 'and the'bar A, substantially as and for the purpose specified. y

` Y R. NIGKSON.`

'Witessesz J. W. Ooonrs, Gr. W. REED. 

